A finance manager from south Wales who previously served a sentence for fraud has once again found herself at the centre of a multi-thousand pound embezzlement scandal. Victoria King, 56, who is also known as Vikki Phillips, has been ordered by the court to repay a staggering £72,000 after siphoning off more than £140,000 from her most recent employer, a Rhondda Cynon Taf-based adhesive supply company, Eftech Ltd.
King, formerly of Highdale Crescent, Llantrisant, manipulated company records over a period spanning nearly two years, quietly diverting funds intended for legitimate suppliers into her own bank account. The court heard that, despite being paid an annual salary of £45,000 as the company’s finance manager, King awarded herself an unauthorised monthly ‘bonus’, often amounting to £7,500, through fraudulent invoices and payments directed at what appeared to be a genuine supplier – which, in reality, was a front for her own benefit.
After joining Eftech Ltd in 2021, King was entrusted with extensive control of the firm’s finances, including sole access to the main Lloyds bank account and responsibility for payments to suppliers. Her criminal activities went undetected until April 2023, when she resigned abruptly. Unbeknownst to the company at the time, her departure coincided with a planned financial restructuring, which saw the Belgium-based parent firm absorbing the Welsh office’s accounts.
It was only during this transitional audit that inconsistencies began to emerge. Senior managers detected a host of questionable transactions and, upon conducting a more thorough internal investigation, traced 21 payments – totalling more than £140,000 – to a suspicious bank account. The account name was so similar to that of an actual supplier that it initially escaped attention.
Law enforcement became involved after the company flagged these concerns, but during her police interview, King exercised her right to remain silent, declining to answer any questions put to her by investigators. The trust placed in her by colleagues, many of whom considered her part of the workplace family given the long-standing local ties of the business, had been badly shaken.
Statements from Eftech’s Welsh office leadership described King’s actions as a flagrant act of greed, pointing out that she seemed unfazed when speaking about her equestrian interests or upcoming holidays, even while quietly defrauding the company. The breach led to a significant erosion of confidence at the small firm, once renowned for its close-knit, multi-generational workforce.
King’s criminal history compounded the sense of betrayal. The 56-year-old had previously served time in prison after stealing £130,000 from a charity, during which she also concocted false references from her victims to bolster job applications elsewhere in the financial sector.
She pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and, in May, was handed a 32-month prison sentence by Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. The latest Proceeds of Crime Act hearing revealed that, although King’s illegal activities benefitted her to the amount of £145,197, only £72,657 in assets were available to seize.
Judge Vanessa Francis ordered King to pay the recoverable sum within three months, warning that failure to do so would result in an additional two-year custodial sentence. The case underscores ongoing concerns about safeguarding within small businesses, especially when previous convictions and reference checks appear to have been circumvented.
This latest turn of events marks a further fall from grace for King, who has now twice been exposed for exploiting positions of trust within Welsh workplaces. As the community and former colleagues reckon with the aftermath, the case stands as a cautionary tale for employers regarding the importance of rigorous background checks and oversight when it comes to handling company finances.